After becoming one of the sport’s best paid players, Mike Phillips now has the Wales No 9 shirt in his sights
MIKE PHILLIPS is not just a giant among scrum-halves — at 6ft 3in and 14st comfortably the biggest in Test rugby — he has just landed a giant contract, making him one of the best paid players in the world. However, when the hottest property in Wales is not even the starting scrum-half for his country, tongues start wagging, and they haven’t stopped since word got out that he is moving to the Ospreys from Cardiff Blues this summer for a £1m-plus deal over four years. The gossip centres around the fact that Phillips, 24, has clinched a deal through his agent, Mike Burton, that will catapult him into the ranks of rugby’s millionaires despite playing second fiddle to Dwayne Peel at international level.
Phillips has played only cameo roles for Wales so far in the RBS Six Nations, coming off the bench for Peel in the final quarter of the losses to Ireland and France, winning his 19th cap in Paris. He was “gutted” not to get a look-in in the debacle against Scotland, when his rival won his 50th cap.
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So why do the Ospreys think Phillips is worth 2½ times the £80,000 annual salary Cardiff paid when he joined two years ago, to escape being Peel’s understudy at Llanelli Scarlets? Burton says it is down to star quality, on and off the pitch.
“Mike is in the same mould as Terry Holmes, the biggest name in Wales in the 1980s, and that adds up to one hell of a player. Holmes might have been stronger, but Phillips is quicker. On top, this boy’s got the looks of a male model, and he won’t do the Ospreys’ merchandising any harm.” 
Phillips came second recently in a local newspaper poll to find the sexiest man in Wales, although he jokes that learning Ryan Jones, the Wales No 8, was the winner took the gloss off it. But he is not shy of trading on his looks and has done a few shoots for a Cardiff modelling agency, admitting he likes to look the part.
“I like clothes. I’m probably trying to impress the girls, and I wear the occasional brand, mixed with my own cut on things, whatever looks good.”
It is what he does in rugby kit over the next four years, however, that will decide whether the Welsh public falls for him. “
It’s up to me to make the move a success. It’s a chance for me to better myself. Maybe there hasn’t been enough pressure on me to perform at No 9 for Cardiff.”
Burton says Phillips is so serious about being the Wales starting No 9 that he rejected even more money from outside the principality.
“Mike had a bigger offer from Stade Français, and bids from Leicester and Worcester, but he turned them down because he wants to play for Wales.”
To make that a reality he has to turn the tables on Peel, and with the smaller man struggling to make an impact behind an unimposing Welsh pack, there is a growing lobby in favour of Phillips, who is more effective and powerful on the break.
Phillips presses his case unashamedly ahead of what is being billed as a wooden spoon decider against Italy in Rome on Saturday.
“I made the most breaks for Wales in last season’s Six Nations, yet I only started one game. I’d like to get a couple of starts against Italy and England in this Six Nations. My pass is as quick as anyone’s, I enjoy having a go ball-in-hand — and rugby is all about crossing gain-lines.”
Being so big may make him an oddity among scrum-halves, but Phillips thrives on the attention.
“I’m being man-marked more but when you’re taller it gives you physical confidence. It’s a macho thing.”
Phillips is fed up with being on the bench.
“I would love more time on the field to show what I can do. Although Dwayne is number one at the moment, I don’t see why I can’t be.”
It is a giant statement of scrum-half intent, and one that the Ospreys have banked on Phillips being able to measure up to.
Scaling new heights
Scrum-halves of all shapes and sizes
The flyweights
Peter Stringer, Munster and Ireland (5ft 7in, 11st 4lb) Pierre Mignoni, Clermont Auvergne and France (5ft 7in, 11st 4lb) Ricky Januarie, Lions and South Africa (5ft 6in, 11st 11lb)
The middleweights
Dwayne Peel, Scarlets and Wales (5ft 9in, 13st 7lb) Harry Ellis, Leicester and England (5ft 10in, 13st 12lb) Byron Kelleher, Chiefs and New Zealand (5ft 9in, 14st 12lb)
The heavyweights
Mike Phillips, Cardiff Blues and Wales (6ft 3in, 14st) Ruan Pienaar, Sharks and South Africa (6ft 1in, 14st 2lb) Guy Easterby, Leinster and Ireland (6ft, 14st 11lb)
Source: Times Online
